Archive for July 21, 2012

This will conclude the first quarter of the list (85-81 are here). Not too many surprises thus far. Most of the stuff are good songs, but I don’t think any of us would really think to put them too much higher than where I did. (And if you think that statement is incorrect, just wait til we get to the rest of the list.)

This section of the list will include two songs that are pretty famous. The majority of people will definitely recognize them. Then we have another great song that’s the centerpiece of its film, one of those “hero singing his dreams” songs that people who grew up with that film would probably rank higher than I am, and then one of those songs that almost never gets its rightful due because it is the one that directly precedes the classic song from the same film.

That’s all really vague and doesn’t actually say anything, but damn it, I had to write something up here. It’s not like you read these anyway.

This section of the list is our first introduction to recent Disney songs. (You can see the previous section here.)

I’m very outspoken about what I feel is a complete drop-off in terms of Disney songwriting. All the recent Disney films put in too much pop music in place of songs — either the character are singing preexisting hits, or a pop song plays over a montage — or, what’s even worse, they write a song for the movie, and then have the singer sing it over the action! Why would you do that? Have the famous person perform the song at the end. Have the characters perform the song during the film. Plus, all the recent Disney songs have just felt really weak to me, in general. I haven’t really been a huge fan of almost anything Disney has done over the past decade (save like, two movies).

That said — this portion of the list will feature two songs from recent Disney that I do actually like. I don’t think they’re as strong as some older Disney music (hence their rankings), but overall, I do like them. And we’ll also have our first Pixar entry on the list as well as two films that were featured in the previous portion of the list.

The previous portion of the list, #95-#91 (which you can see here), had our first instance of a song I feel people would want to go higher. This portion won’t have that. This portion consists of either songs from lesser-known Disney films, or songs that are just plain forgotten (for the most part).

So instead of being in critical mode for this section, this one is more about discovery. You get to discover (or rediscover) some great songs that most people wouldn’t immediately think of to put on their “Best of” Disney songs list.

All right — now that we’ve kicked of the list (see #100-#96 here), it’s time to start making the tougher decisions. From here on out, there are gonna be songs going that make you go, “Wow, I didn’t expect that to go so early.” Things happen when you make lists.

This portion of the list is populated mainly by “extra” songs in major films. That is — those songs in the classic movies that are not the ones that get all the spotlight. They’re fourth or fifth down on the depth chart. It’s not that they’re good, it’s just that there are so many other good ones ahead of them that it’s impossible to give them any recognition until the other ones go first.

I’ll also say — there’s one song here that I feel most people wouldn’t pull as early as I did. But hey — that’s what these lists are for. Tough decisions.

This will begin a series of Disney articles that will continue on this blog until September. We all grew up with Disney, and we all grew up with the songs. And as long as you’re still in touch with your inner child, you hold these songs and these films as near and dear as I do. So before I rank all the Disney films (I’ll explain before they go up), I’m gonna set the mood by ranking my favorite Disney songs.

The thing with Disney songs, though, is that if you don’t cap yourself, you can just keep going. There has to be a limit. And 100 felt right. At first I was worried I wouldn’t get to 100. Then the worry became, “Oh damn, which fifteen are getting left off in favor of these other fifteen?” So I felt good about capping it at 100. You’ll see as we count down — none of these are filler. They’re all legit good songs.

My other favorite thing about this list is — we all grew up with these songs. We all know them. And we all have our own personal choices. This would make for a great countdown show. Come up with a list, have people talk about it, count down and show all the songs… somebody help me get this made.

But anyway, I’m sure some people will disagree with my placement of some of the songs. Whatever. That’s why you can create your list of Disney songs. For now, let’s just enjoy the wonder that is Disney music.

"It was difficult for observers to tell whether ODB's wildly erratic behavior was the result of serious drug problems or genuine mental instability." -- My goal in life is to one day have this said about me.

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